Australian woman spends more than $1,300 for two iPhones, receives actual apples instead

Compiled by Chelynne Renouard , Deseret News

Published: Sunday, Aug. 2 2015 12:59 p.m. MDT

In this Monday April 1, 2013 photo, a man leaves an Apple store with an iPhone and an iPad in his hands in central Beijing, China. (Alexander F. Yuan, Associated Press)

BRISBANE, Australia — A woman is left with two expensive apples after she fell for an iPhone scam.

Police say that a 21-year-old woman placed an advertisement on the classifieds website Gumtree, asking if anyone had an iPhone for sale.

A woman replied to the ad, saying she had two iPhones for sale. The two decided to meet at a McDonald's to complete the transaction. According to the Herald Sun, the woman paid $1,500 AUD for the phones ($1,336.35 U.S.) and received "two iPhone boxes that looked new."

The woman failed to check the boxes before leaving, and after returning to her home found the cartons only contained two pieces of fruit.

"Don't stay away because most people are doing the right thing, but be smart about what you buy," senior constable Jess Hopkin told the Herald Sun.

"If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. It's really just common sense."

In June, an Orem woman was scammed into paying $120 for what she thought was an iPhone in a grocery store parking lot. Orem Police Lt. Craig Martinez said the fake phone came in Apple-style packaging with charging accessories and earphones, but the "phone" was a fake.

"When you are buying phones, stereo systems, speakers, don't do it in the parking lot outside of someone's trunk," Martinez said. "It never turns out good, and you never get what you are paying for."